My brigadista year by Katherine Paterson
Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9780763695088
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Themes: Cuba, Literacy, Gap year,
Volunteering, Civil war, Corruption. After Castro took power from
the corrupt, USA supported leader, Batistia, things changed for
Cuba. Castro wanted the country to become more literate and
thousands of teens were recruited to go into rural Cuba and teach
people to read and write. In this absorbing novel by the award
winning Paterson, she tells the story of these brigadistas through
the eyes of her central character, Lora. At thirteen she is caught
up in the fervour of helping Cuba become literate, trained to be a
teacher, given her supplies and a hammock and a brief knowledge of
first aid, then sent to a village in the mountains, a place where
anti Castro forces still exist, where one of the brigadistas was
killed in the previous year. This is the first time she has left the
safety of her home, and her parents are fearful for her, but she is
determined to go.
Lora's story is deftly told. Paterson is able to diffuse complex
ideas into an easily absorbed story. The reader learns about the
background to this highly volatile situation, with arms supplied by
the Americans to the anti Castro forces as Castro is seen as too
Russian leaning for the USA, where the teachers sent are viewed with
suspicion and must earn the trust of those they live with. Behind
Lora's year in the jungle is the invasion of the Bay of Pigs (1961)
and so the reader is able to absorb a different view of a little
known historic incident.
Brought up with an anti Castro western view of Cuba, this little
book offered me a a chance to reassess ideas held in the past, and
for younger readers this is an historical novel of immense interest
and research which will give readers a new perspective on why Trump
and Obama have such differing views of the USA's relationship with
Cuba.
The central character leads the way, developing skills necessary to
live with an unknown family, learning their way of life, learning to
fit in and to teach them the skills necessary for a modern Cuba.
And all the while is the threat from the terrorists in the mountains
behind the village.
A wonderfully involving coming of age story, Paterson shares a
background unique in children's literature.
Fran Knight